anniversary

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A day that is an exact number of years (to the day) since a given significant event occurred. Often preceded by an ordinal number indicating the number of years.

   Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the war.

2. 2
   noun

   A day subsequent in time to a given event by some significant period other than a year (especially as prefixed by the amount of time in question).

   The occasion was the six-month anniversary of the Aug. 8 coup that brought General Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores to power.

3. 3
   noun

   the date on which an event occurred in some previous year (or the celebration of it)

Etymology

From Middle English anniversary, from Medieval Latin anniversāria (diēs), anniversārium, from anniversārius (“yearly”), from annus (“year”) + versus, past participle of vertere (“to turn”).